Gunman suspected of killing 9 at Charleston church arrested in North Carolina

Alex Sanz and Dadvid Goldman, Associated Press

Published
6:49 am EDT, Thursday, June 18, 2015

South Carolina authorities have released this photo of Dylann Roof, 21. He is suspected of opening fire and killing nine people in a Charleston church Wednesday night.

South Carolina authorities have released this photo of Dylann Roof, 21. He is suspected of opening fire and killing nine people in a Charleston church Wednesday night.

Photo: Photo Via The Berkeley County, South Carolina Government On Twitter, @BerkeleySCGov

Photo: Photo Via The Berkeley County, South Carolina Government On Twitter, @BerkeleySCGov

Image
1of/4

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 4

South Carolina authorities have released this photo of Dylann Roof, 21. He is suspected of opening fire and killing nine people in a Charleston church Wednesday night.

South Carolina authorities have released this photo of Dylann Roof, 21. He is suspected of opening fire and killing nine people in a Charleston church Wednesday night.

Photo: Photo Via The Berkeley County, South Carolina Government On Twitter, @BerkeleySCGov

Gunman suspected of killing 9 at Charleston church arrested in North Carolina

1 / 4

Back to Gallery

CHARLESTON, S.C. >> Dylann Roof, 21, the man suspected of opening fire during a prayer meeting at a historic black church in downtown Charleston, killing 9 people Wednesday night, was arrested in a traffic stop in Shelby, N.C., police Chief Greg Mullen said during a press conference.

Authorities have described the shooting as a hate crime. Among those killed was the church pastor, who also served as a state senator.

Roof is from Lexington, South Carolina.

Mullen said during a press conference that Roof would not have been arrested so quickly without the “unparalleled cooperation of all the agencies that were involved in this situation.” He described the crime as one that “touched the heart and soul” of investigators and the community.

An intense manhunt was initiated for Roof. Police released surveillance video photographs of the gunman and a dark colored sedan he may have used to get away.

Police say the young white man joined a prayer meeting at the church and then opened fire.

Police Chief Greg Mullen said he could not offer a make and model on the dark colored sedan because investigators were not certain about what is shown in the video.

Mullen said he believed the attack at the Emanuel AME Church was a hate crime. The suspect was described as a white man in his early 20s.

“This is a very dangerous individual,” Mullen said during a 6 a.m. news conference.

“We want to identify this individual and arrest him before he hurts anyone else,” the chief said.

Mullen said the scene at the church was chaotic when police arrived, and the officers thought they had the suspect tracked with a police dog, but he got away.

The FBI will aid the investigation, Mullen told a news conference that was attended by FBI Special Agent in Charge David A. Thomas.

“The only reason that someone could walk into a church and shoot people praying is out of hate,” Riley said. “It is the most dastardly act that one could possibly imagine, and we will bring that person to justice. ... This is one hateful person.”

Pinckney 41, was a married father of two who was elected to the state house at age 23, making him the youngest member of the House at the time.

“He never had anything bad to say about anybody, even when I thought he should,” Rutherford, D-Columbia, said. “He was always out doing work either for his parishioners or his constituents. He touched everybody.”

The attack came two months after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man, Walter Scott, by a white police officer in neighboring North Charleston that sparked major protests and highlighted racial tensions in the area. The officer has been charged with murder, and the shooting prompted South Carolina lawmakers to push through a bill helping all police agencies in the state get body cameras. Pinckney was a sponsor of that bill.

In a statement, Gov. Nikki Haley asked South Carolinians to pray for the victims and their families and decried violence at religious institutions.

“We’ll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another,” Haley said.

Soon after Wednesday night’s shooting, a group of pastors huddled together praying in a circle across the street.

Community organizer Christopher Cason said he felt certain the shootings were racially motivated.

“I am very tired of people telling me that I don’t have the right to be angry,” Cason said. “I am very angry right now.”

Even before Scott’s shooting in April, Cason said he had been part of a group meeting with police and local leaders to try to shore up relations.

One of its founders, Denmark Vesey, tried to organize a slave revolt in 1822. He was caught, and white landowners had his church burned in revenge. Parishioners worshipped underground until after the Civil War.